RANEE RAMASWAMY has been a choreographer, perfomer, and teacher of Bharatanatyam, the classical dance of South India, in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota, since 1978. She founded Ragamala Dance Company in 1992 and currently serves as Co-Artistic Director, Choreographer, and Principal Dancer along with her creative partner (and daughter) Aparna Ramaswamy. As dancemakers and performers, their creative vision merges the rich traditions and deep philosophical roots of their Indian heritage with their hybridic perspective as first generation Indian- Americans.

Throughout her career, Ranee’s work has merged the classical language of Bharatanatyam with a contemporary Western aesthetic to create timeless pieces that freely move between the past and the present. Her training in Bharatanatyam under iconic dancer/choreographer Alarmél Valli in Chennai, India, is the bedrock of her creative aesthetic.

Ranee currently serves on the National Council on the Arts, appointed by President Barack Obama. Among her awards and honors are a 2020 Bogliasco Foundation Fellowship (Italy), 2018 Guggenheim Fellowship, 2017 Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center Research Fellowship (Italy), 2014 Doris Duke Performing Artist Award, a 2012 United States Artists Fellowship, a 2011 McKnight Distinguished Artist Award, a Bush Fellowship for Choreography, and 15 McKnight Artist Fellowships for Choreography and Interdisciplinary Art, among others.

Ranee’s choreographic work has been commissioned by the Kennedy Center (Washington, D.C.), Lincoln Center (New York), American Dance Festival (Durham, NC), the Harris Theater (Chicago), Hopkins Center at Dartmouth College (New Hampshire), Walker Art Center (Minneapolis), and the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates), among others, and supported by the National Endowment for the Arts, National Dance Project, MAP Fund, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, New Music/USA, USArtists International, and the Japan Foundation. She has developed work in residence at MANCC (the Maggie Allesee National Center for Choreography), at the Arts Center at NYU Abu Dhabi, at the Hopkins Center at Dartmouth, and during an NPN residency at The Yard.

In addition to her creative work, Ranee is committed to inspiring a new generation to think and act innovatively, sparking conversations that articulate new possibilities for cultural hybridity in the 21st century. She has served as guest lecturer at colleges and universities throughout the U.S. and abroad, and has been a featured speaker and panelist for such forums as the Dance/USA National Conference, the International Festival of Arts & Ideas, and the Body Voices: Reimagining Culture, Community, and Politics conference hosted by NYU Abu Dhabi. In Minneapolis/St. Paul, Ranee has educated hundreds of students in the classical dance form of Bharatanatyam.

My Story

My work is based in a classical style of dance from southern India called Bharatantyam. A form with a long history going back to mythical times.

As a child growing up in India, I studied this art form for ten years, only as a cultural activity not to be a professional.

In 1978, we migrated to Minneapolis. Minneapolis gave me a second opportunity when I was asked to perform by our Indian community for a Diwali festival. Not having danced for ten years, I still took that opportunity: I bought a 25 dollar tape recorder, a friend gave me two pieces of music to which I set my dance performance. I found that I still loved it and my audiences were happy—they asked me to teach their children. I went to India to pursue my studies enough to teach.

Going back to the form, Bharatanatyam was meant to be a solo form.

Through out its history, Bharatanatyam has never been static but grew in the hands of its practitioners resulting in distinct lineages and styles.

I found my teacher here in Minneapolis!

In 1983, a very famous and an amazing performer of this style, Ms. Alarmel Valli came to Minneapolis to do a two week residency at the U of M. I was blown away by her dance. My daughter Aparna, who is now my co-artistic director, and I started studying with her, traveling for four months a year. We still continue to study with her.

My work in MN also included educating audiences, funders, presenters about my dance form. I did school residencies throughout MN teaching Indian culture through dance.

In my early days as an artist, it was wonderful to get the support from an NEA individual artist fellowship.

As a choreographer, my interest was to make this art form accessible to all audiences. Not by eliminating the core elements of Bharatanatyam, I believed that the form had the capacity to meet other forms and converse yet keep their integrity.

I did this through collaborations, from 1983-2000, I can say there has been no form nor choreographer in the twin cities that I have not collaborated with. I was able to continue my work through several choreography awards from the Mc.Knight foundation, and the Bush Fellowship.

I founded Ragamala dance in 1992. My daughter Aparna joined me in 2005 as co-artistic director.

We started to go back to our Indian myths, philosophy and poetry, to find universal themes, with several entry points for audiences. Using live music, collaborating with artists who added their excellence to the project. Our projects became large scale. When I was awarded the Doris Duke award for choreography, a US Artist fellowship, when Aparna and I received the Guggenheim Fellowship—the first time a mother and daughter received it—I couldn't believe that this small door that opened for me led to all these accolades. I had no high goals, only to be truthful to my form, work hard. There was no path that I could follow, I created my own. I took every opportunity, every avenue to educate people about Bharatantyam. I saw choreographers getting awards, commissions, tours, I did not know how. I had a form which was unknown, and it was my job to show everybody the relevance of that.

Since 1983, Aparna and I have practiced our art together, a classical dance language, with a long history and adaptability to grow and flow with its practitioners. Together, we let lineage and creativity flow equally together in our work, balancing respect to tradition and culture, as we mine creative inspirations from the world around us. Now along with Ashwini, we continue to be to each other’s coach, always watching, not with indulging eyes but a critical eye - our goal -

My greatest honor is being nominated to the National Council for the arts by President Obama in 2011 where I continue to serve my fellow American artists.